Taxes on the Internet: Deterrence Effects of Public Disclosure

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Bo, Erlend E.; Slemrod, Joel; Thoresen, Thor O.
• 署名单位: Statistics Norway; University of Michigan System; University of Michigan; University of Michigan System; University of Michigan; University of Oslo
• 刊物名称: AMERICAN ECONOMIC JOURNAL-ECONOMIC POLICY
• ISSN/ISSBN: 1945-7731
• DOI: 10.1257/pol.20130330
• 发表日期: 2015
• 页码: 36-62
• 关键词: difference-in-differences; evasion; identification; ECONOMICS; inference

摘要

Although Norway has a long tradition of public disclosure of tax filings, starting in 2001 anyone with Internet access could obtain individual information on income and income taxes paid. We examine the effect on income reporting of this change in the degree of public disclosure, making use of the fact that prior to 2001, in some municipalities, tax information was distributed widely through locally produced paper catalogs. We find an approximately 3 percent higher average increase in reported income among business owners living in areas where the switch to Internet disclosure represented a large change in access.